Money in dollar bills seized from a home of the Commissioner General of the Tanzania Revenue Authority is pictured down: Over 20 bags of it:

OLUKIIKO LWA BAZZUKULU BA BUGANDA

OBULANGO

Oluguudo Lwa Kabaka Njagala, Mubweenyi

bw'enju ya Kisingiri ewa Musolooza.

Telephone::

Ssentebe - 256 712845736 Kla

Muwanika -256

712 810415 Kla

UGANDA.

Email Links:

info.bazzukulu

babuganda

@gmail.

com.

OMUZIRO:

NKEREBWE

AKABBIRO

Kikirikisi-Mmese etera okuzimba mu kitooke.

OMUTAKA

KIDIMBO.

OBUTAKA

BUDIMBO.

ESSAZA

SSINGO

OMUBALA:

Nkerebwe nkulu esima nga eggalira

Olukiiko lwa Buganda lwanjudde embalirira ya buwumbi 7

The Kabaka of Buganda launches a book on Ssekabaka Muteesa II struggles:

Kabaka Mutebi (centre) with Mr Patrick Makumbi (right) and Dr Colin Sentongo (left) at the book launch at Bulange in Mengo, Kampala.

PHOTO BY ERIC DOMINIC BUKENYA

BY ERIASA MUKIIBI SSERUNJOGI

Posted Friday, May 27 2016

Kampala in the State of Buganda:

Kabaka Ronald Mutebi on Wednesday, 25th May 2016, launched a book about the struggles of his late father and former Buganda king, Edward Muteesa II, touching on Uganda’s history before and after independence.

The book titled The Brave King, revisits the stories of Muteesa’s exiling, first between 1953 and 1955, and again from 1966 to 1969 when he died in London. The author, Mr Patrick Makumbi, drew from the documents preserved by his father, 99-year-old Thomas Makumbi, who was an official at Mengo, Buganda’s power capital.

“I was very happy to write the preface to this book,” Kabaka Mutebi said, adding: “It will help the readers understand what Kabaka Muteesa went through in those days.”

When Mutesa was exiled in 1953, the older Makumbi, the father of the author, led a team of six Buganda officials to negotiate with the British about the king’s return to Buganda, which was secured in 1955. The other members of the team were Mr Apollo Kironde, Mr Matayo Mugwanya, Mr Amos Sempa, Mr Eridadi Mulira and Mr Ernest Kalibbala.

Kabaka Mutebi, while officiating at the function, called on more people to document what they saw during those days, saying “it is a good thing” that some of those who witnessed or participated in the events are still alive. Muteesa himself wrote about the period in question in his autobiography, The Desecration of my Kingdom, and Kabaka Mutebi’s endorsement of Mr Makumbi’s new book will be seen as an extension of the kingdom’s bid to manage the narrative.

Mr Apollo Makubuya, Buganda’s third deputy Katikkiro, at the launch held at Bulange-Mengo said there have been attempts to misrepresent history by “those who do not like us”.

Accusations and counter accusations of betrayal between Buganda Kingdom and Obote are rooted in a rather happy start, when Buganda’s party Kabaka Yekka (KY) teamed up with Obote’s Uganda People’s Congress to defeat the Democratic Party and form government at independence in 1962.

But the two centres of power soon quarrelled violently and were involved in what many have regarded as a critical turning point in Uganda’s history. The army, on Obote’s orders, stormed Muteesa’s palace on May 24, 1966, killing multitudes and forcing the king-president into exile.

Mr Makubuya said his grandfather was among those killed during the attack, an occasion the kingdom commemorates yearly on May 24. He said in addition to explaining how Buganda and Muteesa suffered during that period, Mr Makumbi’s book will clarify a number of other issues, including how colonialism thwarted Buganda’s development efforts.

He said Buganda stiffly resisted colonialism and the demands of colonial governor Andrew Cohen in particular, to the extent of winning a court case in London against the exiling of Muteesa. In all its efforts, Mr Makubuya said, Buganda was consistently seeking autonomy, and that the kingdom can “never” lose sight of this objective.

Mr Makumbi, the author, said his father could not attend the launch due to old age.

The publication of the book was financed by Dr Colin Sentongo, who said at the launch that KY, which ceased to exist in the 1960s, is the only political party he has ever belonged to.

The fathers of Mr Makumbi and Dr Sentongo met with Muteesa as students at Kings College Budo, from where, Mr Sentongo said, the three men forged a life-long friendship. It is probably much for this reason that Kabaka Mutebi warmed up to Mr Sentongo and Mr Makumbi at the launch.

Currently Mpigi Central Police station is faced with the challenge of housing

Officers at Mpigi Police Station gear up for deployment recently. (Senior officers have been told to leave the barracks).

Senior Police officers at Mpigi Central Police Station have been asked to vacate houses in the police barracks and rent rooms outside the barracks.

In the letter dated 23rd May 2016, authored by the District Police Commander, Ahmad Kimera Sseguya, he directed all officers from the rank of Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) and above to immediately vacate the houses where they are currently staying.

According to Kimera, all officers from the rank of Assistant Superintendent of Police and above are not allowed to sleep in the police barracks because they receive housing allowance in their salary every month.

“We have junior officers who are renting outside the barracks yet they are supposed to sleep inside the Police barracks, these senior officers are supposed to sleep outside the barracks and not inside because their housing allowances are consolidated in the salary” Kimera said.

Currently there are nine Senior Police officers sleeping in houses inside the barracks at Mpigi Central Police station who are facing eviction according to Kimera.

Kimera added that Cadet Officers are however excused because they are not yet confirmed ASPs and therefore they do not receive housing allowances.

Currently, the station is faced with the challenge of housing.

One of the officers who is facing eviction but preferred enormity, said the directive came at a time when they have no money to rent rooms outside the barracks and that they are expensive which they cannot afford now.

“We cannot afford to rent rooms outside the barracks now because they are expensive, we are still looking for money to take our children to school and they are now asking us to leave the barracks” he said.

How farmers can control cassava diseases:

Women selling their harvest of cassava, potatoes and yams in a rural food market.

23 February, 2019

By Lominda Afedraru

Farmers across Africa are engaged in growing cassava which is considered as food security and industrial crop but the plant is vulnerable to a broad range of diseases as well as less known viral strains.In East Africa the most common are Cassava Brown Streak Virus (CBSV), which leads to root rot and Cassava Mosaic Virus (CMV) which shows symptoms of yellowing and wrinkled leaves but it is no longer a major challenge.In particular to Uganda there is the Uganda Cassava Brown Streak Virus (UCBSV) which is known for causing severe damage of root rot. As such scientists with expertise in breeding cassava across the globe in a concerted effort have been breeding the plant using conventional means to tolerate the virus. Since 2014, scientists from Uganda, Tanzania, Nigeria, Brazil and Colombia under the Nextgen cassava project secured a grant from Bill and Melinda Gates to breed cassava with resistance to various viral diseases.This was revealed by the head of Root Crops at the National Crop Resources Research Institute (NaCRRI) Dr Titus Alicai during the 7th annual review meeting this week.

Signs and symptomsCBSVD is the most biotic constraint to cassava production in the coastal areas of Tanzania, Kenya and across cassava growing areas in Uganda.The symptoms include yellowing of leaf tissue due to a lack of chlorophyll and sometimes stem injuries. The disease also affects the tuberous roots which develop brown, dry necrosis within the starch-bearing tissues, sometimes accompanied by distortion which is visible externally.It is caused by the whitefly, which usually rests on the under surface of the leaves where it lays eggs which end up destroying the leaves by turning them yellow.

Spread and controlDr Kawuki explains that CBSV are spread on farm by the white fly vector which infests the stems and once farmers share the cuttings, it is further spread to their fields. This can cause up to 100 per cent yield loss through rooting of the tuber.

BreedingDr Robert Kawuki, who is part of the implementing team in Uganda, giving progress so far achieved explained that scientists consider the product developed to be good for food and industrial use.The breeding programme is implemented jointly with Makerere University where 10 Master students across East Africa are being trained and two with PhD under Makerere University Regional Centre for Crop Improvement (MaRCCI). The breeding approach in Uganda encompasses strategies to curb viruses with involvement of food processors and those in the milling industry for quality dry matter and marketing strategy for farmers’ products.The team sourced cassava germplasm from Nigeria, Tanzania, Brazil and Colombia. These have been crossed with varieties in Uganda such as the Nase series 1-19 and Narocas1.

Pytosanitary methodReplace local CBSD-infected material with newly-introduced disease-free planting material of improved varieties.At farm level, the removal of infected plants and selection of healthy stems for replanting are recommended by research and extension agencies.In case farmers spot any infected plant it must be removed immediately and the stems destroyed to avoid further spread.Management efforts for both CBSD and CMD have mainly focused on the development of resistant varieties.

There are many uses for the maize crop in Uganda if the governmet can exploit the current over production of maize this season:

After low prices, and the damage of armyworm, the maize disease known as Striga is also messing up the maize crop:

August 21, 2018

Written by Arthur Matsiko

Countrywide, maize farmers are decrying low prices for their harvest. Although this is attributed to overproduction, most farmers in the eastern districts of Iganga, Kamuli and Jinja are also counting losses to striga. One of those is ZIPORAH ELUMBI who narrated her frustration to Arthur Matsiko.

A teacher by profession, the 24-year-old mother of two set out a demonstration garden of maize with an aim of concentrating on commercial maize growing as a reliable economic activity.

With 6kg of maize seed, 25kg of urea and 25kg of dub, Elumbi planted a demonstration farm on half an acre of land in Nakirumbi, Igombi sub-county in Iganga district. Having used fertilizers and a hybrid variety of maize seed, she anticipated to harvest between 1,500kg and 2,000kg of maize.

A farmer displays the effects of striga on her maize

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Two months after planting, a strange weed grew in the middle of her garden, stunting most of the crop. Although her initial plans were to plant on five acres of land after a successful demo, she now confesses to how striga is strangling her farming escapades.

STRIGA CRAMPING CROPS

Locally known as kayongo, striga is a resilient parasitic weed that attacks cereal crops, causing yield losses of between 20 and 80 per cent and can result in total crop failure in severe infestation. Each striga plant produces 20,000 to 50,000 seeds, which can remain dormant and viable in the soil for up to 20 years.

With every planting season, a portion of the striga seed bank in the soil germinates and infests the host crop, while producing and increasing the overall striga seed inventory in the soil. This escalates the problem over time.

According to a 2016 study conducted in Kamuli and Jinja by One Acre Fund (OAF), 82 per cent of the surveyed farmers could recognize striga but only 12 per cent knew how to control and prevent it.

OAF is a not-for-profit organization enabling farmers to access quality agricultural inputs on credit. The organization provides inputs such as hybrid maize seed, fertilizers and practical skills about modern farming methods, among other services.

Elumbi is one of 11,000 farmers in Kamuli, Buikwe, Jinja and Iganga districts receiving farm inputs on credit from OAF since 2013. Recently, MPs on the Parliamentary Committee on Agriculture visited Iganda and Kamuli to appreciate the effect of striga on farmers and their crops.

Committee vice chairperson, Robert Migadde, told The Observer that although government has been paying attention to fall armyworm, striga has proved to be more death-defying.

“When striga attacks, there is no alternative apart from cutting down the garden, yet for armyworm you can only spray,” said Migadde. “Some farmers have been confessing to harvesting three bags [of maize] in an acre because of the effect of striga.”

He revealed that the National Agricultural Research Organisation (Naro) has developed a striga-resistant maize variety amidst other efforts to thwart the leechlike weed.

“Striga is very dangerous in the east, and they are saying it has been there since 1940 but we have never taken any deliberate efforts to stop it,” added Migadde, calling upon government to prioritise eliminating the weed.

On its part, OAF drafted, introduced and facilitated consultations and passing of the Kamuli Striga Control and Prevention Ordinance 2017 to enforce community action against striga.

The farmer-centred organization, among other efforts, is also backing government to prioritize fighting striga so that farmers such as Elumbi can always plant to harvest revenues.

LOW PRICES

Like Elumbi, most farmers are decrying low prices of maize seed. Currently, a kilo of maize costs between Shs 250 and Shs 300, down from last month’s Shs 600 and last year’s Shs 1,500.

This has forced most farmers to store their harvest in anticipation that prices could rise. Although the 2017 East African Regional Maize Supply and Market Outlook report ranks Uganda among the top maize surplus-producing countries in the region, low prices could force some farmers to either eschew or plant for consumption only.

One such is Merab Basiika. A resident of Magamaga west in Jinja district, 60-year-old Basiika has been a maize farmer for over 30 years.

When The Observer visited her garden last week, she was harvesting from what she planted in March. Basiika told us she had never experienced prices lower than Shs 500 per kilo of maize until this season.

Disappointed, she is using Malathion Dust to preserve her harvest for as long as prices can rise, lest she starts planting only for consumption. A beneficiary of OAF, she calls upon the organization to liaise with government to ensure prices are stable so farmers could gain from their sweat.

According to Sharon Muhwezi, OAF’s head, government relations and policy analyst in Uganda, OAF does not link farmers to the market but prepares them to store their produce to avoid selling at “dumping pieces”.

“Our ultimate aim is to have agreements with bigger companies who buy in bulk and have capacity to process maize for export,” Muhwezi says.

Having lost part of her garden to striga, Elumbi is now regretting her resources spent on her initial attempt at commercial farming. Unless a solution to striga and prices is found, she would consider ditching maize farming to concentrate on her teaching career.

matsiko@observer.ug

The United States of America has put up a prize offer of Uganda Shs 1bn in prize money for an African armyworm solution from Agricultural Researchers all over the world:

April 27, 2018

Written by VOA

The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) is offering prize money for ways to combat the fall armyworm, a crop-eating pest that has spread across sub-Saharan Africa.

The USAID warned last week the pests threaten the livelihood of millions of African farmers.

The armyworm insect in the stage of a larvae eating up the leaves of the maize crop in the tropics.

Related Stories

“It is targeting maize, a vital staple crop for many families in Africa, and we are calling up on our partners to mobilize their solutions to work with us to control fall armyworms,” said Regina Eddy, coordinator of the Fall Armyworm Task Force at the USAID Bureau of Food Security.

The agency is offering a prize of $150,000 (about Shs 556 million) for the most viable solution, two awards of $75,000 (about Shs 278 million) to the "most promising" solutions, and two awards of $50,000 (about Shs 185 million) to an "early stage" solution that shows the most potential.

"USAID is looking for the best ideas, best digital tools to combat the pest and disseminate information and technology to help farmers manage it," Eddy said.

Agriculture experts say the fall armyworm - the larvae of a type of moth - could cause more than $13 billion in crop losses in Africa this year. The moths are comfortable with hot climates and can travel hundreds of miles per day when carried by wind.

The pests originated in the United States, where they usually attacked crops during the autumn months. In Africa, experts say they could attack throughout the crop cycle and might deserve a new name.

The moths mainly consume maize, the staple food in some 300 million homes across the continent, but USAID says they attack 80 other types of crops, including sorghum, cotton, rice and sugarcane. Last year, some African farmers trying to save their crops had to remove the pests by hand.

Armyworms have been identified in more than 35 sub-Saharan African countries in the past year.

“We are still tracking the prevalence, and that may increase," said Eddy. "It has just arrived, it is setting up its habitat."

Supposing it is the destruction of the tropical forests that is inflaming the insect to survive with a different man- made environment! Cropping lands that have been under very deep forests of a large diversity of plants and their parasites the African farmer cannot get away with a lucrative harvest scotch free.

In Uganda, the prices of basic foods continue to stay high in the countryside. There are villages that have fallen on hard times due to drought:

December 23, 2016

Written by ALI TWAHA

The current rise in commodity price shows no signs of receding as markets are expected to enter into a slowdown mode. Goods are to remain highly priced, writes ALI TWAHA.

The long dry spells and high fuel pump prices are all driving retail food prices to their biggest annual increase at a time when one of Uganda’s regional markets, South Sudan, remains shaky as a result of political unrest.

As a result of the increasing commodity prices on the market, cash-strapped consumers and some traders are lately finding it difficult to pay for meals as the prices of key ingredients such as sugar shoot through the roof.

“The whole year has been drought-prone. The rains have not been persistent and agriculture has not performed to expectations. So, it created a shortage in food supply,” says Dr Fred Muhumuza, an economist working with the Financial Sector Deepening Project Uganda.

For instance, Salim Jamadah, a trader in Nakasero market, is among those who have stopped selling commodities such as sugar to customers due to recent hikes in prices.

“I stopped selling sugar three weeks ago. A kilogram goes for Shs 5,000 [up, from Shs 3,200]. It’s a lot of money which I don’t have at the moment [to get stock],” Jamadah says.

A woman sells food stuffs by the roadside. Drought has reduced food supplies

At Nakasero market, it’s not business as usual, according to Jamadah, despite it being the busiest season in the year for the traders.

Jamadah says “consumers are tight on their money and they are spending sparingly” because the highly-priced goods have weighed down on their consumption power. His frustration with the current state of doing business cuts across with other traders we interviewed for this story.

The traders throw the blame of high prices on Ugandan traders exporting food to neighboring countries such as South Sudan. However, experts are now worried that the food shortages in Uganda, especially in the northern region, have peaked and created a situation of extreme poverty.

Recently-released statistics from Uganda Bureau of Statistics (Ubos) indicate that poverty indices for northern Uganda have worsened over the past 12 months, with 23.9 per cent of households being classified as chronically-poor.

SOUTH SUDAN IMPACT

The current food shortage in Uganda has been worsened by the unrest that resumed in the world’s youngest nation, South Sudan. According to a statement from the European Commission, nearly three million people have been displaced, causing a crisis situation. Uganda alone now hosts more than 30,000 refugees who have escaped the fighting that intensified in July.

“Most food is channeled to the refugee camps in South Sudan; so, it’s straining the little that is available in the market,” Muhumuza explains. “In South Sudan, people had started growing food on their own but now Uganda has to feed all those people. Those who have remained in Juba can’t grow food [because of the unrest]. So, we do not see any change in the next quarter of 2017.”

A combination of the long dry spells and the refugee influx from South Sudan has sparked an increase in commodity prices of items such as maize flour, which has gone up to Shs 2,500 from Shs 1,800, rice (Shs 2,400 to Shs 3,000 Kaiso) and beans (Shs 2,000 to Shs 2,900 Nambaale).

Meanwhile, economists expect inflation, the change in the prices of goods and services, to rise further because of higher fuel and food prices. In May, 2016, pump prices dropped to their lowest level over the last five years, averaging about Shs 3,150 for a litre of petrol and Shs 2,450 for diesel. The drops were then attributed to the fall in global oil prices.

However, prices have since gone up, with a litre of petrol now going for Shs 3,450, while diesel trades at Shs 3,010. The cost of transporting food from farms to the market influences the price of food.

While presenting the monetary statement for November, 2016 recently, Bank of Uganda (BOU), said annual headline inflation rose to 4.6 per cent from 4.1 in October 2016, driven by a sharp rise in food crops and related items.

Emmanuel Tumusiime-Mutebile, the BOU governor, said inflation picked up due to bad weather. He, however, said the rate is expected to stay within single digits and the medium-term target of five per cent.

“Inflation is focused to remain around the medium-term target of five per cent over the next 12-month,” Mutebile said.

Adam Mugume, the executive director of research at BOU, explained that the food prices are expected to rise but the harvesting time is projected to lift commodity prices in the first quarter of 2017.

“Food pricing is temporary phenomenon,” Mugume explained. “We are likely to see further increases in food supplies. So, as those food prices start edging lower because of the good harvest that we expect in the first quarter of 2017, obviously that will have an impact.”

PRICES TO PERSIST

On the other hand, Muhumuza says although inflation is expected to slow down in 2017 as effects of drought ease, high food prices might persist for commodities such as beans, grains and maize flour.

“A lot of schools may buy food because they normally stock food in January, which might push prices up a lot more.”

In Uganda, The Rice Irrigation farm equipments that were given out to buy African democratic votes in 1996 have not been used up to day:

26 October, 2016

By Fednand Tuhame

Kabarole, Kamwenge, Western Uganda:

Two irrigation machines costing Shs100m are lying idle at Mahyoro Sub-county in Kamwenge District 19 years after they were donated by President Museveni.The machines were donated during the 1996 general election to boost rice production in the area.At the time of the donation, Mahyoro was still part of Kabarole District.Farmers who were then engaged in small-scale rice production asked the President for irrigation machines so that their crops would survive dry spells.

According to the irrigation project, water would be drawn from the nearby Lake George to water the rice.

The President of Uganda trying to impress farmers how it is important to irrigate farm crops using a bicycle

However, the machines have never been used as such, the farmers have also abandoned rice growing for potatoes, sugarcane and cotton.

“The machines have never been fixed in the cultivation area for farmers to irrigate their crops off the shores of Lake George,” Mr Innocent Katuramu, a farmer in Mahyoro, said.Past and current leaders in the area have been blamed for not installing the machines.The LC3 chairperson, Mr Juma Kahero, said by the time the machines were donated, farmers were not trained on how to use them.

Dr Fabius Byaruhanga, the then area MP and State Minister for Agriculture, said farmers had picked interest in rice growing but suffered prolonged droughts.He urged current leaders in the district to make necessary budget allocations to put the machines to use in order to save farmers.

editorial@ug.nationmedia.com

Modern development in Buganda is failing. Tsetse Flies are still around in Kalangala:

By Gladys Kalibbala

Added 22nd October 2016 11:18 AM

The Agricultural officials in the field trying to solve the ancient problem of Buganda

Tsetse flies have been in Ssese islands for ages and in the 1920s, the colonial government was forced to evacuate people from the islands.

It was early evening as the operator of the big boat (known locally as Kinaala) that was to ferry us to Serinya Island helped each one of us onto the wobbly vessel.

We were 15 travellers.

For the plus-size that I am, all I can say is my being helped onto the boat was a bit of an awkward episode. It offered dramatic viewing for the people around, and the same can be said of the time we had to literally jump off the boat once we had reached Serinya Island – part of the Ssese archipelago.

A large part of the travelling group consisted of officials from the agriculture and energy ministries, and for most, it was their first time moving on water in a local boat.

The team was on a mission to assess the extent of tsetse fly infestation on this and other islands.

Team leader Frederick Luyimbazi, who is the commissioner for entomology at the agriculture ministry, said the two ministries joined hands to embark on a pilot programme of fighting tsetse flies on the five islands of Serinya, Banda, Buwuvu, Kibibi and Lulamba.

Tsetse fly infestation is threatening half of the national herd and reports from the ministry of agriculture indicate that about 70% of Uganda’s land surface is infested by the vector responsible for Nagana in animals and Sleeping sickness in humans.

According to Luyimbazi, that statistic has a negative impact on the war against poverty considering that the agriculture sector contributes to 21% of Uganda’s gross domestic product (GDP) while the livestock sub-sector accounts for about 8% of the agriculture GDP, according to a 2008 Uganda Bureau of Statistics report.

TRANSPORT CHALLENGE

We thought we had had it rough but Betty Mukasa, the Kalangala district entomologist, has seen worse days on the water as she goes about her work in many of these islands.

“There are times when the lake becomes rough when we are in the field far away on such islands like Serinya and getting back home turns out to be a nightmare.”

Her Mukono district counterpart Annette Nassozi relates to this herself. Recently she was part of a group sent by the agriculture ministry to collect data concerning the infestation of tsetse flies around Ssese islands.

A couple of minutes after they had started moving back to mainland Kalangala from Lulamba Island, their engine failed and the boat stalled in the middle of the Nalubaale Lake re-named Lake Victoria by the former British colonial rulers. “As the man operating it bent over to repair it, I wondered what would happen if he accidentally slipped into the water and left us alone in the boat.”

Panicked, she had to think outside the boat.

“In my desperation I contacted someone we had left on the mainland and asked him whether he could come quickly to our aid. But he confessed that he did not know how a boat was operated and my heart instantly sank.”

Luckily, a few minutes later, the operator managed to fire the engine back to life.

Mukasa, the Kalangala district entomologist, said hiring a boat requiring about 40 litres of petrol for a day plus about sh70,000 for motor-cycle transportation on the islands for their work is too expensive.

She revealed that a boat plus an engine promised to them by the government in 2010 to help them in setting tsetse fly traps and for other related work has never been received.

STATE OF TSETSE FLIES ON THE ISLANDS

After their trip to Serinya Island, the team from the agriculture and energy ministries was joined by officials from Kalangala district for a sensitization meeting. Farmers from different islands also took part in the meeting which took place at Lutoboka landing site on mainland Kalangala.Only a lucky few left the meeting without being bitten by tsetse flies.

The district’s veterinary officer Dr. Edward Muwanga said about 90.2% of all the islands around Kalangala are infested by tsetse flies, which affects animal husbandry in the area.

Generally, Animal African Trypanosomiasis, caused by trypanosomes and transmitted by tsetse flies, remains a major constraint to food security in trypanosomiasis-endemic areas of Africa.

Meanwhile, entomologist Mukasa said that while collecting data in October 2013 on Mbugwe Island in Bufumira sub-county, 590 tsetse flies were found in the traps that had been set.

Last year in December at Lutoboka landing site (in the nearby forest reserve), 790 tsetse flies were caught in only three days while last month, 52 tsetse flies were found in the trap at Kachanga landing site in Buwuvu Island only two days after setting the trap.

In 2008, Kalangala registered an increase in cases of Sleeping sickness, but which has currently reduced, said Dr. Muwanga. “We suspected this to be a result of the over 90% employees working at BIDCO who had come from Busoga.”

About 2% of animal deaths in Bufumira sub-county in recent months were due to Nagana, he added.

INTERVENTIONS

Catherine Nanyanzi, a councilor on Serinya Island, said she had seen tsetse traps in the area for some time but did not know much about them or what they are for. “Whenever they fall down I refuse my children to get near them because I don’t know what potential dangers they pose,” she told the visiting group.

Dr Muwanga showed concern that those who understand how these traps help in catching flies misuse their knowledge and they too need sensitization. “They shift tsetse traps from where they have been set and take them near their homes while some people sleep under them.”

In a bid to rid Kalangala of tsetse flies, the team brought along equipment to launch a project that they hope will help curb tsetse fly infestation.

The agriculture ministry team came with tsetse fly traps worth sh35m while the energy ministry team (International Atomic Energy Agency – IAEA), led by Sarah Nafuna (head of Nuclear Energy Unit), carried along several equipment worth US$16,000 (about sh55m).

Luyimbazi said the equipment, all handed over to the LC5 chairman Willy Lugolobi, will be used in a pilot project to fight the flies in the five selected islands. He cautioned residents of the chosen islands against abusing the tsetse fly traps.

And the equipment don’t come cheap either. Each trap, according to Luyimbazi, costs sh35,000 while the drugs that they are soaked in cost sh400,000 per litre.

From left, Frederick Luyimbazi (left) handing over the equipment to fight tsetse flies to Kalangala District officials. (Gladys Kalibbala)

METHODS TO BE USED

Luyimbazi explained that the agriculture ministry had earlier sent entomologists to the five islands – Serinya, Banda, Buwuvu, Kibibi and Lulamba – to collect data which is essential in helping them identify ways of suppressing the flies.

“For this project funded by IAEA, we are going to use tsetse traps, flat traps and hot fogging machines to help in the suppression process,” he said.

Aerial spraying (where non-degradable drug is used) will be used later to enable elimination of the tsetse flies while at a later date, sterile tsetse flies will be used to wipe out the vectors on the islands.

The locally made boat which the technicians hired out for this very important work.

The agriculture ministry has an insectary, a mass rearing plant in Tororo where the ministry of energy has assisted them with nuclear to sterilize male tsetse flies. “By the time we set them back into the wilderness in Kalangala, they will not be able to multiply as their sperms will have been made infertile,” said Luyimbazi.

THE INSECTARY

In 2012, with support from the energy ministry (IAEA), the ministry of agriculture refurbished an insect breeding centre worth sh680m at the National Livestock Research Institute (NALIRRI) in Tororo district.

“In order to fight the tsetse flies, we intend to use an integration of technologies involving tsetse traps, application of insecticide on livestock (pour-on or spraying), aerial spraying and later the use of the sterile insect technique [releasing sterile insects into the wild],” explained Luyimbazi.

The mass rearing centre in Tororo targets a capacity of 500,000 breeding female flies from which about 50,000 males will be expected every week.

“These will be released into areas where we would not have achieved eradication by using conventional techniques.”

The plan is to release 100 sterilized male flies per square kilometer for over 52 weeks.

When the sterilized males finally mate with the females found in the wild, they will not produce viable offspring. Fertilisation of the eggs will not take place and the eggs will be aborted. Eventually the tsetse foci being dealt with will crash.

“The implementation of the sterile insect technique involves the establishment and maintenance of a tsetse fly colony from which the males will be sterilized using an Irradiator ‘Gamma Source’ and later released into the wilderness after conducting an effective tsetse suppression program using tsetse traps and aerial spraying,” said Luyimbazi.

Tsetse flies have been in Ssese islands for ages and in the 1920s, the colonial government was forced to evacuate people from the islands. While some people were taken to Masaka, others were ferried to Entebbe to allow aerial spraying to take place. Mass graves believed to be around Kibanga Primary School in Kalangala are said to belong to the over 60% people who died of Sleeping sickness during that time.

WHAT DISTRICT OFFICIALS SAY

Dr. Muwanga (veterinary officer) said that out of the 60,000 tsetse traps required to be set around Ssese islands in a year, only between 200 and 300 have so far been set.

“Because of poor animal health due to diseases, there is very little milk produced where farmers can only get about two to five litres a day. They cannot keep improved animals as these cannot stand the state of tsetse flies.”

Poor meat quality and animal reduction are some of the other factors that Muwanga blamed on tsetse flies.

The deputy chief administrative officer (CAO) Godfrey Mukasa agreed, saying Nagana has affected animal production in in the vast area.

“Our budget as a district is so small while drugs to fight these flies are very expensive. Government should help us by providing more funding to clear the flies so that the animal industry is boosted.” His other concern is that the flies will threaten the booming tourism industry.

Meanwhile, LC5 chairman Willy Lugolobi urged the concerned ministry and the National Drug Authority to monitor drugs which are on the market to help farmers identify what to buy.

“Formerly, drugs were controlled by the veterinary department but after privatization, our farmers have been cheated. They lose a lot of money from fake drugs which has forced some of them to drop out of the farming business.”

WHAT OTHERS SAY

Sarah Nafuna, head of Nuclear Energy Unit at energy ministry:

“As we put pressure on government to put in more effort to clear tsetse flies after the assistance rendered by IAEA, concerned districts should also put a tsetse component in their budgets. It’s a shame that in Uganda where IAEA started its services in 1967, the country is still struggling to wipe out these flies while in Zanzibar where they introduced assistance in the 1990s, the flies were wiped out. Let’s make it a joint effort to fight the flies so that the tourism and animal industry can flourish.”

Betty Mukasa, Kalangala district entomologist:

“Sustainability is urgently required if we are to achieve any goal. Whenever a project to fight the flies comes up, they reduce dramatically only to re-emerge at the expiry of the project. The district has limited funds while drugs for this venture are extremely expensive plus transport in the islands. Government should buy a boat for us to help in monitoring situations in the islands as we use a lot of money to hire boats whenever we have a journey.”

Prossy Nakitende, chairperson at Serinya Island:

“What plans does government have for us at these islands? I have 15 indigenous cows but would like to upgrade to zero grazing with cows that can give me enough milk for business purposes. The veterinary officer warns us that such animals cannot live long in our environment full of tsetse flies as they will die!”